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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Jayson Jarmon" <jaysonj@luxworldwide.com> |
| Subject | Re: The Reading Room |
| Date | Thu, 3 Aug 2006 13:48:19 -0700 |
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Emerick's book stays pretty much within the guidelines already established
by countless other Fab bios. The young, happy, naive Beatles enter into one
end of the system; jaded, unhappy world-weary Beatles exit at the other end.
I found him to be surprisingly harsh toward the Georges (both Harrison, whom
Emerick chides as cold, indifferent, and aloof; and Martin whom Emerick
describes as non-confrontational and too quick to take credit for his
(Emerick's)innovations. Lennon is painted as brilliant but disturbed, and
wildly inconsistent-- no new ground there.
It's Emerick's personal story that's most affecting here and makes the book
a great read. And to my way of thinking, while decrying the stodginess of
EMI and Abbey Road studios for their old-fashioned approaches to making
records, this really is a love-letter to the good old days of 4-track,
analog recording...it presses the point quite well that some of the best
work in pop music was done quickly and in a professional, workman-like
manner. A lot got done at Abbey Road when that little red light came on.
-----Original Message-----
From: audities-owner@smoe.org [mailto:audities-owner@smoe.org] On Behalf Of
Will Harris
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 1:11 PM
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: Re: The Reading Room
> "Here, There and Everywhere: My life recording the music of the Beatles"
> By Geoff Emerick
> Autobiography by the Beatles engineer; I enjoyed this one a lot. Leans
> heavy on his work with the Beatles. Just technical enough for those who
> are interested but easy to understand and not off putting for those who
> aren't. Gives some good insight into the Beatles themselves from a
> close yet still 'outside' perspective. Makes everybody seem very human
> rather than the legends we've come to know them as.
I really loved ths book, too. I'm not a musician, just a lowly critic, but
I nonetheless found Emerick's descriptions of his sonic accomplishments in
the studio and how he got certain sounds for certain songs to be
fascinating. Like the good Mr. Bacino said, it's interesting without
getting so technical that it's offputting. Shame it didn't go all the way
up to his work with the Syrups, but you can't have everything...especially
with a title that clarifies exactly what period of his career he's covering.
(Actually, he DOES discuss his work on "Band on the Run" in some detail.)
His anecdotes about the Beatles definitely provide a more personal side to
the foursome that a lot of biographies miss, and his perspective - sort of a
friend but mostly an employee - is unique.
Will
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